Fearless makes dad proud, dominates Ghostzapper

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Fearless made his sire proud Saturday at Gulfstream Park, dominating the Grade 3, $100,000 Ghostzapper Stakes by six lengths.

Fearless, a 6-year-old son of Ghostzapper, sat a close third under Luis Saez and then drew away from his five rivals for the convincing score, his sixth win from 14 starts. Five of those wins have come at Gulfstream Park, where he has also finished second three times in eight starts.

Capocostello, last of six for the opening half-mile, rallied to nose out Greatest Honour for second. Greatest Honour, who leapt at the break, finished three-quarters of a length ahead of Twelve Volt Man. Commander finished fifth. Carlos L. was pulled up by jockey Joel Rosario, but did not need to be vanned off. Laughing Boy scratched.

On paper, Laughing Boy figured to be the speed of the race, and set up as the target for Fearless. Instead, a rank Carlos L., under Joel Rosario, went up inside of Fearless heading into the first turn to take the lead with Commandeer, sitting second.

:: For the first time ever, our premium past performances are free! Get free Formulator now!

Fearless followed that pair before taking control approaching the five-sixteenths pole and drawing off for the comfortable win.

Todd Pletcher, the trainer of Fearless, was happy to see his horse break well, noting that when he tailed off form in 2020, he would take himself out of the race early on.

“I knew when he broke well he was putting himself in a good spot, it was more about that because that was some of the trouble we were having before we gave him a little bit of a break,” Pletcher said. “He wanted to give himself way too much to do early on.”

Fearless, owned by Mike Repole, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.03 and returned $2.60 as heavy favorite and received a 98 Beyer Speed Figure.

Saez said he thought he might be farther behind early but when Fearless “broke so well he was right there, so I don’t want to take too much away from him,” Saez said. “The way he finished was very strong, I had a lot of horse left.”

Pletcher said there are plenty of options for Fearless and mentioned the Grade 3, $300,000 Pimlico Special on May 20 as a potential next race. Fearless finished third as the favorite in the 2021 Pimlico Special.

:: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports